Popcorn Ceiling Texture Removal Debris Collector

ABSTRACT

A Popcorn Ceiling Texture Removal Debris Collector is a handheld container used to eliminate the mess during a popcorn ceiling texture removal by catching and containing the falling popcorn ceiling texture debris when scraped from the ceiling. The container can be easily emptied/dumped into a plastic trash bag or trash receptacle when full before returning back into use. The container is a rectangular enclosure with four rounded corners and a threaded base that connects to a threaded tip handle by way of screwing the threaded tip of the handle into the threaded base of the container. 
     The container can be easily emptied/dumped into a plastic trash bag or trash receptacle when full before returning back into use.

BACKGROUND PRIOR ART

The following is a tabulation of some prior art that is presently appears relevant:

U.S. Patent Application Publications

Pat. No. Kind Code Publ. Date Applicant 610166 A 2000 Aug. 15 Greer, Cunningham, Tryon 20090188920 A1 2009 Jul. 30 Momberger

Houses have been constructed with popcorn textured ceilings for decades by spraying the popcorn ceiling texture in liquid form onto the ceiling's drywall, which when fully dried forms a bumpy, irregular surface that helps to side seams in drywall. The popularity of these popcorn textured ceilings has waned considerably since it was first introduced in the 1960s and applied in homes all the way into the early 2000s. With these popcorn textured ceilings being impossible to clean and extremely difficult to repair and paint, homeowners are now removing them.

To remove popcorn textured ceilings, one must use a basic garden sprayer to spray a coat of water directly onto the entire surface of the ceiling and wait ten to fifteen minutes for the water to absorb into the popcorn texture. As the water absorbs into the popcorn texture it breaks down the adhesive bond between the popcorn texture and the drywall. Once the adhesive bond has been broken down, a putty knife or scraper can be used to scrape off the popcorn texture, leaving behind the bare drywall.

This is a long and grueling process that leaves a huge mess of wet popcorn ceiling texture debris all over the walls and floor. Even when a waterproof drop cloth is laid down over the floor, there is a high probability of a leak or break in the drop cloth during the process and when the process is complete the wet popcorn ceiling texture debris must still be cleaned up and removed without leaking onto the floor. This cleanup process alone could take multiple hours if not days to properly complete.

Several tools were previously designed to aid in this process. Greer, Cunningham, and Tryon disclosed a ceiling scraper with an integral debris collector, allowing for popcorn ceiling texture to be scraped off while an attached bag collects the falling debris, however with even a small amount of wet popcorn ceiling texture debris weighing up to several pounds, this application can only hold a limited amount of debris before it becomes too heavy to hold or the bag needs to be dumped or replaced before it tears open. This constant changing or dumping of the bag adds a considerable amount of time to the popcorn ceiling texture removal process. Momberger shows a similar ceiling scraper debris collection container that allows for popcorn ceiling texture to be scraped and collected into a temporary storage receptacle that can be poured out of a thin, rear spout when its cap is unscrewed and removed, which encounters the same problem of only being able to hold a very limited amount of debris and quickly becomes too heavy to hold. When dumping the debris, the thin spout often clogs with the thick, wet popcorn texture debris, blocking the debris from being emptied.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one embodiment a popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector comprises a rectangular plastic container, open at the top with a threaded base for easy attachment to a threaded tip handle.

ADVANTAGES

Accordingly the several advantages of one or more aspects are as follows: to provide a method of collecting a substantial amount of popcorn ceiling texture debris, that contains the mess, that is easy to empty/dump, that limits the frequency of emptying/dumping debris, that is easy to clean, that is easy to use, that is durable, that is reusable, that is relatively inexpensive, and can be easily manufactured. Other advantages of one or more aspects will be apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.

DRAWINGS FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded view depicting the connection between the container and the handle of this popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector.

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector.

FIG. 4 shows a side elevation view depicting the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector's method of use.

DRAWINGS REFERENCE NUMERALS

PCRB001 Container

PCRB002 Handle

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector. The container consists of a plastic rectangular enclosure, open at the top with four rounded corners, and a threaded base (PCRB001), which connects to a plastic threaded tip handle (PCRB002).

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector. Part PCRB002 contains one rounded tip and one threaded tip that screws into the threaded base of part PCRB001.

FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view of the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector. The rectangular container (Part PCRB001) is typically 9 in. high×14 in. wide×10.5 in. deep. The handle (Part PCRB002) is typically 12 in. long with a 1½in. diameter.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side elevation view of the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector in use. The popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector (Parts PCRB001 & PCRB002) is shown catching the falling popcorn ceiling texture debris as it's scraped off of the ceiling's surface.

Operation

The manner of using the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector is to contain the mess associated with removing the popcorn ceiling texture from a ceiling. One first wets the popcorn ceiling texture using a basic garden sprayer. Next, one waits ten to fifteen minutes for the water to absorb into the popcorn ceiling texture and break down the adhesive bond between the popcorn ceiling texture and the drywall. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, one uses a putty knife or scraper to scrape off the popcorn ceiling texture, while holding the popcorn ceiling textural removal debris collector below to catch the falling debris. Once filled with debris, the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector can be easily dumped into a plastic trash bag or trash receptacle before returning back into use. When the removal process is complete the threaded tip handle can be unscrewed and removed, allowing for the plastic rectangular enclosure to be easily placed in a standard size sink and thoroughly cleaned.

Advantages

From the description above, a number of advantages of some embodiments of my popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector become evident:

-   -   (a) 99% of the falling popcorn ceiling texture debris can be         easily caught and contained rather than dropping to and dirtying         the floor.     -   (b) The falling debris can be easily discarded with absolutely         no mess.     -   (c) Limits the frequency of emptying/dumping debris.     -   (d) Easy to clean in any standard size sink by unscrewing and         removing the handle.     -   (e) Lightweight and durable design that holds up to heavy loads         of debris or if dropped from a ladder.     -   (f) Can be easily and relatively inexpensively manufactured in 2         parts.

Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope

Accordingly, the reader will see that the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector can be used to catch and contain falling popcorn ceiling texture debris, can easily dump/empty debris, can limit the frequency of emptying/dumping debris, can be easily cleaned in a standard size sink by unscrewing and removing the handle, is light and durable for repeat use, and can be easily and relatively inexpensively manufactured in two parts. Furthermore, the popcorn ceiling texture removal debris collector has the additional advantages in that:

-   -   It permits the production of the container and handle in various         sizes.     -   It permits the production of the container and handle in a         variety of different materials.     -   It permits the production of the container and handle in a         variety of different colors.

Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but as merely providing illustrations of some of several embodiments. For example the enclosure can have other shapes, such as circular, square, etc.

Thus the scope of the embodiments should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given. 

1. A handheld apparatus for collecting popcorn textured debris material from a ceiling surface, comprising:
 2. (a) a rectangular enclosure of rigid material having four rounded corners.
 3. (b) an elongated support holder,
 4. (c) said support holder being joined perpendicularly to the undersurface of said rectangular enclosure of rigid material in a horizontal orientation.
 5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said rectangular enclosure of rigid material is composed of plastic.
 6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said elongated support holder is composed of plastic.
 7. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said elongated support holder includes a threaded tip.
 8. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein underside of said rectangular enclosure of rigid material includes a threaded base. 